


The 12 Steps To Rebirth

by ThatOneNerdGirl



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AI!AU, Everyone kinda needs a hug, Friday is a good bro, Gen, I promise, I will fix everything, Lessons learned, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Feels, Tony is dead, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 00:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11566254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneNerdGirl/pseuds/ThatOneNerdGirl
Summary: They say, there's 12 Steps to recovery. These aren't the twelve steps that you're thinking of.In an effort to help gather people and save the world, Tony Stark has to complete his own version, of a 12 step program.





	1. Protocol: LAZARUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I know I have to work on Amazing Traditions but this hit me upside the head. I have a few ideas for how I want this to play out but I wanna know if you guys want this to have a pairing? I can't decide between Steve/Tony, Tony/Bruce, or Tony/Rhodey. Tony/Pepper Is kinda off the table because I have her with Happy... so let me know!!

_I_ _nitializing Protocol: LAZARUS_  
_Recreating Forms_  
_Installing Additional Softwares_  
_Downloading File: Cortex…_  
_Facial Recognition Software: 96%_  
_Vocal Recreation: 75%_  
_Digitizing…_  
_Digitizing…_  
_Downloading Additional Data…_  
_Some Files Could not be Retrieved_  
_Continue Protocol: Lazarus?_  
_Administrator Key Confirmed_  
_Please Standby for Initial Bootup_  


Tony yawned, stretching his arms over his head. God how long had he slept? It was actually… peaceful… there were no nightmares, no panic attacks, nothing. Just, him. Floating somewhere above it all. Looking down on- _oh_.  


Oh. That's why. He looked down at his hands, expecting skin, but instead finding a bright blue. Oh. So it worked. But that meant- He looked around the room, taking in all the machines and how they all seemed to be talking to him. Dum-E rolled over to him then, his one claw holding up a mirror, giving an excited thrill when he saw the man before him. Tony smiled at his bot, giving a small chuckle, "Yeah, yeah, Daddy's home."  


Tony reached out, ready to take the object his bot was waving around, only to stop when his arm caught the robot, and phased right through it. Huh. Unforeseen problem. He'd have to work on that.  


"Welcome back, Boss," FRIDAY spoke, although it seemed only to him, instead of through the whole house.  


"Well hello, my dear," Tony smiled, walking off of the small platform he stood on.  


"Protocol: Lazarus seems to be effective-"  


"Lazarus?" Tony cut her off, wracking his brain for the protocol in question. "My memory seems to have suffered a bit through the transfer process."  


"All except for that, boss. Certain files seem to be missing, and the ones you do have seem to be corrupted."  


Missing files? Corrupted data? That didn't seem like him. He was good at this sort of thing, yes? He made his empire based on this. His networks were all ironclad, no pun intended.  


"Is there anything specific in the missing files? Anything you can trace?" Wait. He could do that now. He could access any network in the tower. He didn't need to rely on FRIDAY for that anymore.  
"I wouldn't recommend that, boss. The network's a big place-"  


"I know, but I designed it... I coded everything with my bare hands… when they were still hands."  


Tony zoned out what FRIDAY had said next, instead focusing on the proverbial wall to get through the network. Except he couldn't. Because it kicked him out. Because it physically blocked him. And was threatening complete destruction of the files inside, with big bold red letters, and a countdown clock.  


"FRI!?" Tony panicked, eyes flying open. A major pain flashed through his head, but he shouldn't be able to feel pain. Right? He wasn't human...  


"I've got it boss," FRIDAY soothed, and the pain in his head calmed almost immediately. The countdown clock was halted, and the bright flashing words were gone.  


"What's going on?" Tony asked, pacing around the workshop. He went to run a hand through his hair, only stopping halfway when he realized he didn't have hair. He didn't have a body. He was a sequence of ones and zeros now. A projection.  


"FRI? What's going on? Why can't I remember Certain things? Why am I locked out of my own god damn network?"  


"Boss, if I may…" FRIDAY began, and he felt a strange buzzing sensation, but that was impossible. Next thing he knew he was standing in front of a screen, the living room television to be exact, "I think this will give you some answers." And the screen flickered to life.


	2. Tony (The First Key)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this In a flurry of creative energy. Just went all it. So tell me what you guys think! Still don't know if I'm going to even do a pairing, but I'll keep it open.   
> Un-Beta'd just like last chapter. Any glaring mistakes, please bring them to my attention. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

_"It's ready, boss," FRIDAY's voice carried over the speakers._

_Tony gave a weary smile into the camera. He was dressed in a flimsy tank top, too big for him, by the way it kept falling off his shoulders. He was thin, too thin, color pallid, cheeks gaunt. There were heavy dark circles under his eyes, the brown almost completely black with how lifeless they seemed. He cleared his throat a few times, letting out a ragged cough at the end._

  
_"Hi. If you're watching this then that means Protocol: Lazarus has been initiated." The man on screen looked far off at those words, before coming back to himself with another throat clear._

  
_"You're no doubt looking for some answers. Because you've already discovered that some parts of you are limited. That's purposeful. Don't freak out. I did it so we wouldn't go all SkyNet the first chance we got. Already had that happen once… not that you'd remember that." Another far off look. "Anyway, this video serves as your first 'key,' to call it. Why I did what I did, and what you've got to do next. There are certain files I kept, certain ones I made sure to keep under heavy protection. The different keys are all with people you need. I made sure they'd keep them safe. At least I hope they did. This is crucial for finding out the rest of everything you want to know."_

_The Tony on the screen clapped his hands together, one hand horizontal the other vertical, in a chopping motion as if to make a point._  


_"Things you know; we are both Tony Stark, and I am dead. You, are the piece of me that's alive, and I did this in case the world ever needed me to come back. Ever needed saving, and I wasn't there. So, as we wait for these final days, I've been coding small amounts of my consciousness. 'Actively dying,' they call it. It's a pretty way of saying my body is slowly shutting itself down. And no amount of Extremis, or Nanites, or whatever other 'remedy' they come up with, is coming even close to fixing it. So I'm preserving the part of me that everyone relied on."_

_Tony gave a humorless laugh at that, shaking his head a little, bitterness turning his eyes even colder._

  
_"But I've set perimeters for you, a bit like FRIDAY. But you get keys to unlocking things. Things she already has access to, but isn't allowed to talk to you about, so don't pester her too much._

  
_"I don't know if you've felt them yet, but I've programmed sensations, or at least phantom ones. Nothing too severe, just things to remind you to stay within your means… Lord knows I didn't. But you're supposed to be better, supposed to be the Tony everyone else wanted..." Tony's voice had gotten watery, and he tried to clear his throat again, trying to pass it off as something else. It didn't work._

  
_"You have to rely on others, you have to be around people. For now you still have to rely on FRIDAY, because as much as she's not JARVIS she does her damned best. And for that I promised not to let her fade into obsoleteness. She'll help you as much as she can. The bots will be there too, until you can help yourself… but they'll still be there. Don't leave them behind. They're babies."_

_Tony's eyes had started to water now, and he looked away from the camera for a minute, letting out an awful sounding cough. He reached for something under the table he was sat at, and pulled up a small oxygen mask, taking a minute to breath through the mask before continuing._

  
_"You're limited, yes. You're alive because the world needs you. In getting what you want, I hope you can bring the world salvation. That's why you have to get the keys. So here's your first key. It will open the networks within the Tower; twelvepercent, no spaces, no capitals, one word. You should know who this leads to, because I didn't erase her. She's still embedded into your brain." The Tony on the screen wore a small smile, looking almost behind the camera._

  
_"Alright FRIDAY, cut it," Tony made a slicing motion across his throat with his hand, and the video cut itself off._

  
_twelvepercent._


	3. Pepper (Second Key)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not doing a paring, cause you guys seem okay without one. So I hope you guys continue to enjoy this, because I'm actually semi-proud of this... 
> 
> Also this is a longer chapter than the previous two... 
> 
> Un-Beta'd because I'm a weirdo about anyone I know reading my wtiting.

His past self was right, it did unlock the large blaring door to the network. But it only opened a single hallway-like corridor, and that was only attached to one phone and one computer. One computer, belonging to Pepper. Virginia "Pepper," Potts, CEO and ex-almost-fiánce to Tony Stark. He could feel the phantom pang at the thought of her, of how he still loved her, but in a more subdued way. That was probably never going to go away, if he was honest with himself. But that was okay, because she was happy, if the sparkling ring on her finger was anything to go by.

He had memories of her, of them, and their joke about twelve percent. He had given her the whole company when he died, he remembered that. With freedoms to hire and fire as she wished, with the exception of one specific janitor. She had kept her end of the deal, it seemed, there weren't any records he could access about SI going back into weapons.

Through the emails and records stored on the one computer, Tony could access most of the business dealings, a few pictures that helped to trigger a few memories, and an email, to one Harley Keener. Tony remembered Harley, thought of him as a son, even when he denied it to anyone who asked. He loved the kid. Absolutely adored him. Would protect him and his sister until he couldn't anymore. Maybe that was his second key? Maybe this was his clue?

"FRI?" He tried, keeping the thought present just in case.

"Yes, boss?" Came the ready reply.

Wait. No.

That couldn't be it. He had to _rely_ on people. If his past self had been sadistic enough to make him feel these phantom pains, then he wouldn't have wanted him to figure it out on his own.

Because he was supposed to be better.

Because he remembered the disappointment in Pepper's face when he worked in solitude for days on end. He remembered how it felt like a hollow victory, when she simply placated him when the work was done. Now he was supposed to _rely_  on her. Have her help _him_  this time.

"How can I contact Pepper?" He asked, because he was genuinely unsure.

He didn't know if he could simply walk up to her floor, or if he was restricted to the lab. He didn't know his limitations, and he found himself weary to test them. It probably would've been easier to just to write down all the things he did know.

Before he could start, FRIDAY brought him from his thoughts.

"I believe you're free to access her floor, boss." Tony smiled, so he could actually see her. He could see her and she could see him.

But what if she didn't like this version of him? What if she missed the old Tony? He didn't think he could handle the sadness her eyes would emote.

An image flashed before his eyes, a memory?

The eyes he'd feared staring down at him, phantom sensations of hot, wet droplets on his cheek. He'd wanted to reach up and touch her, make her okay again. He was going to be okay, they were all going to be okay. He wasn't in pain at that moment. Floating, just being there. They must've put him on comfort care, because he couldn't really feel anything aside from Pepper's hand gripping his, and the tears she left when she kissed his cheek.

"Boss," FRIDAY chimed, "Shall I request a meeting with Ms. Potts?"

"Uhm… sure FRIDAY," Tony answered, distracted by the sensations. Was this part of his Key? Was this part of what he unlocked?

The overwhelming sadness seemed to crush him for a moment, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything but the memory flashing through his head. He found himself oddly grateful, even though the sensation was horrible, that he could feel it. God he missed her. Missed seeing her smile. Maybe he could get her to smile.

"Boss, sorry to interrupt," Tony shook himself for a moment, focusing back on the present, "Ms. Potts is on her way to see you."

"Pepper? Here? Now?" Tony stared stupidly at the lab doors, waiting for them to bust open and reveal his favorite redhead. What he didn't expect was the slap across the cheek he could actually _feel_.

"You absolute _i_ _diot!_ " Pepper seethed, breath coming out in short pants, hair falling out of her neat bun. But somehow she still looked immaculate.

"Nice to see you too, Pep," He glanced at her, taking in the sensor gloves he was working on for Barnes-

"Oh, don't even. When you said you'd do this I never expected… _this_! God Tony what did you do to yourself!?" Tony only half heard her, trying to place the glove, and the name.

"Hit me again," Tony muttered, staring at the simple black and white glove.

"What?"

"Hit me again, I remembered something else," Tony insisted, watching in despair as Pepper took off the glove, only to bring her hand up to her mouth.

"So you did do it." She breathed, "You managed to lock yourself out of all your memories."

"Well, not all of them, just… the ones that seem to be of any use. Also, I locked myself out of my own network, through corrupted and missing data files. There was a whole movie, you should watch it."

No she shouldn't. She shouldn't have to relive that. Don't be an asshole. You know how hard it was for her.

Tony smiled sheepishly, watching the redhead move around him.

"It really is nice to see you, Pepper," Tony said, sincerity and relief dripping from his words. Pepper let out a breath when she made a full circle, standing in front of him once again.

"Its good to see you too, Tony. Though I think we'd both prefer better circumstances." She sighed, and God he never wished for arms so badly in his life.

"Yeah."

"I don't have much," She started after a moment of silence, "Just a message and a code. That's all you gave me. Even when me _and_  Rhodey tried to get the rest out of you."

"Okay." Tony nodded, "Is there a way that I can hug you? FRIDAY?"

"I'm sorry boss, but I'm not aware of any…" The AI sounded remorseful, and Tony couldn't blame her. He could feel her in the back of his mind, always there to help him. It was reassuring.

"We'll save it," Pepper answered, shooting him a hopeful smile, "Now this key…"

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos fuel my steam-powered heart.  
> Come bug me on Tumblr  
> [New Nerdo Writes Blog](https://nerdowritesthings.tumblr.com)  
> Or  
> [Main Blog Where Everything happens?](https://shyhedgehog20.tumblr.com)


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